Apartment for two
by Chocokuki93
Summary: Marinette and Nathaniel are fake dating, Adrien is jealous and Marc just wants to clarify he is not a homewrecker. Post-reveal, pre-relationship.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Miraculous Ladybug.**

 **I'm not a native English speaker, so I want to thank Bluejay and Slkworm for making this chapter readable for you.**

 **Chapter 1**

Marinette and Adrien were a team. There was no problem that they couldn't solve together. They could tackle anything that life threw their way, from fighting evil supervillains to finding Marinette an apartment near her new university–The latter of which they were trying to solve presently.

Adrien and Marinette were sitting on the Dupain-Cheng's couch together, browsing on their own laptops, trying to find a place that fit Marinette's harsh criteria.

A few months had passed since they had to give their miraculous back to Master Fu. A few months since the threat of Hawkmoth mysteriously vanished. The butterfly and the peacock miraculous were anonymously delivered to Master Fu. Nobody knew who Hawkmoth was, and it was unlikely anyone would ever find out. Unless of course, Hawkmoth would confess, but that was as unlikely as Plagg ever giving up cheese.

The lack of a confession was bothering Adrien. Now, please don't get him wrong, he was glad to have Hawkmoth gone as much as the next person, but it was so anticlimactic.

Adrien always figured that after years of fighting akumas, eventually, they would have to fight Hawkmoth himself, in a great final boss battle. But in a final jerk-ish move, Hawkmoth had denied them the pleasure of defeating him and finding out his identity. In a bonus jerk move, he decided to do this when Adrien was a few months from finishing Lycée.

The months that followed were pure insanity, the only reason he didn't have a nervous breakdown was thanks to Marinette.

The word "shock" would be an understatement of how the two miraculous holders felt when they realised it was each other. Adrien was beyond disbelief; disbelief, that he didn't see who was in front of him the whole time. Marinette was completely mortified, to say the least. Was the guy she'd always turned down the one she'd been chasing after?

Despite their early preconceptions, Marinette and Adrien were inseparable.

They mourned together when they had to say goodbye to their Kwamis and return their Miraculous to Master Fu.

They studied for finals together.

She was there for Adrien when he fought with his father over his degree. because Adrien wanted to get a degree in physics, while his dad wanted him to get a dual degree in business administration and fashion designing. The debate lasted for so long that he ended up missing the deadlines for Universities' applications, so he was going to keep modelling for six more months and start University the next semester. Sadly, his dad and he were yet to reach an agreement on his degree.

Adrien was there to celebrate Marinette when she got accepted to study Fashion Designing in the university of her dreams.

They endured the craziness of graduation together (along with Alya and Nino).

He was there for Marinette when Alya moved to England to study journalism and improve her English.

She was there for him when Nino decided to move with Alya.

Adrien had spent more hours with Marinette than without her in the past few months.

Marinette let out a frustrated groan when she found the place she was checking was no longer available.

Did she have any idea how gorgeous she was with her hair in a messy bun, an oversized shirt and her mouth pouting in frustration?

"If I don't find a place to stay soon, I'm going to just live on the streets. I saw a nice bridge near the campus and…" Marinette trailed off to stare at Adrien. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

He was not sure what expression he had, but he could bet it was obvious he was an idiot in love. There was no point in denying it.

"Bug, have you ever been in love?" When he was around her, his mouth had the tendency to speak before consulting with his brain.

The question caught her by surprise. She looked at him as if he had grown a second head before replying.

"Um… yes." She blushed, and then added, "What does that have to do with my upcoming homelessness?"

He was not sure what he expected when he asked that question. He hadn't exactly expected her to reply.

"I don't think your parents are going to let you live on the street. Worst-case scenario, they will insist you keep living with them and you will have wake up two hours earlier to be in class on time. "

"I signed up for seven am classes!" She exclaimed in total desperation. "I'll have to wake up before five am!"

"We'll figure something out, we always do." He replied comfortingly. Then he added, "So, who are you in love with?"

"You are such a gossip, kitty." She said playfully. "Why do you even want to know?"

He was not expecting her to sound so defensive.

"Just curious… So, who is this person?"

"He's a friend of mine."

That wasn't' vague or anything.

"And you love him? Are you sure?"

She seemed annoyed that he was asking this, but replied anyway.

"Yes, of course, I am. I don't know why, since he can be such a jerk sometimes" She said. "Sometimes he can be really irritating, and he has a horrible sense of humour." She rolled her eyes. "But most of the times he is the sweetest boy I have ever met. His kindness and bravery know no bounds. And it doesn't hurt that he is really attractive". She smiled playfully, but Adrien didn't feel like smiling "I love him, l love him… and I don't think I'll ever love anyone else…" She finished dreamily.

Hearing Marinette talk about another guy like that... It would have hurt less if he was kicked in the stomach several times in a row... by Hulk wearing the Iron Man suit.

"And this guy you love…" The last word tasted bitter, but he needed to know "Does he loves you as much as you love him?" He couldn't imagine anyone not loving her. If the boy she loved did not reciprocate her feeling, then he was officially the stupidest person on the planet.

The smile was wiped of Marinette face, and replaced with a thoughtful expression.

"No, he doesn't." She said but she sounded unsure "Or yes? Maybe? I don't know?" She was avoiding his gaze. "He used to have a huge crush on me when we were younger, I rejected all his advances. Now I'm no longer sure how he feels about me. Most likely, he moved on. I don't know for sure since we haven't really talked about this."

He wondered who this guy was. Every person who was into girls had had a crush on Marinette at some point. It could be anyone.

"Do you think I still have a chance with him?" She finally looked him in the eyes. For a second, she looked so vulnerable. Those blue eyes were beguiling. Adrien would give her the moon if she asked.

Why would she ask that and put him in such an awkward position? He evaluated what to answer, and at the end, he decided to go for honesty.

"You are amazing Marinette, you know that, right?" She nodded. "I can't imagine a guy not loving you." She blushed for the third time in the past fifteen minutes. "But you already rejected him, and there is a chance he moved on and you need to be prepared for that possibility."

"Well, you'd know" She muttered.

What a cold way to remind him she had already rejected him too. If someone would understand her mysterious boy situation, it was him. However, unlike the mysterious boy, he knew for a fact he didn't move on and that she didn't love him back.

She looked so sad. He hated seeing her sad. He wanted to hug her, he wanted to tell her his mysterious boy probably was still head over heels with her. But he didn't. He didn't want to give her false hope when there was a chance the guy had moved on. Besides he was not strong enough to encourage her to go after another man. So, he didn't.

They stayed in uncomfortable silence for the rest of the afternoon.

* * *

Marinette had seldom felt as desperate as she did when she was two weeks away from starting university. She was yet to find an apartment. The only apartments near the university that were available were either really pricey or cheap rat-infested places. After all, they were still available for a reason.

Adrien had offered his help on multiple occasions and in multiples way. Even going as far as offering to give her money to rent one of the expensive apartments. She didn't want to accept, she felt like a gold-digger. She knew Adrien didn't view it that way, he was just trying to help a friend and money was not a big deal for him, but she didn't want to accept his money.

Besides, after he had indirectly rejected her the previous week, things had been awkward between them. He basically told her that he had moved on, and she had to accept that. It was hard and painful, but she had to do it. She had rejected him, and he moved on. There was no point in telling him now that she had rejected him as Chat Noir just because she was in love with him as Adrien, after all, he was no longer interested.

The bright side of her apartment problem was that Marinette was so focused on finding a place to live that she had barely had time to dwell into her heartbreak.

Marinette hadn't expected an actual solution to come out of posting a long passionate rant on social media about how hard is to find a good apartment, near the university and within her budget; so it came as a pleasant surprise when it did.

Nathaniel commented, on her post, letting her know he was in a similar situation. He was getting his degree in arts in the same university than her and he was having problems finding a nice place. After a long comment's chain of Marinette and Nathaniel commiserating over it, Alix suggested they should just rent a place together.

Marinette was not sure if Alix was serious or joking, but the idea was not bad. An apartment would be more affordable if she could split the rent with somebody. Besides sharing an apartment with a friend sounded fun. Sure, maybe she was not as close to Nathaniel as to Alya or Adrien or even Nino, but they were friends. They had been classmates forever; she knew he was reliable and she trusted him.

Marinette texted Nathaniel, a few days later they were together hunting for apartments. After seeing and rejecting so many places, they finally found a good apartment they both liked.

It was extremely small; they didn't know how they would fit two drawing tables in their tiny bedrooms or their tiny living room. But it was within their budget and only five minutes away from the university. It wasn't a rat-nest either; actually, it was pretty clean. Before they knew it, they were signing the lease.

The Landlady was a woman in her late fifties or early sixties named Louise Bernard. She was really cheerful and sweet, but there was something really fake about her. Marinette didn't like her very much, but she really needed this apartment.

"If you don't mind me saying it, you make such a cute couple," She said with her fake smile.

"She isn't my girlfriend…"

"We're just friends."

Both Marinette and Nathaniel spoke at the same time. Madame Bernard seemed to understand them anyway.

"Oh, I see," She said in her overly sweet voice. "Well, If you are not a couple I'm afraid you can't rent this apartment"

"Excuse me?"

Marinette didn't know Nathaniel could be sassy, but the amount of indignation in those two words made Marinette want to burst out laughing, despite the situation.

"Renting an apartment to two people of opposite sexes that are not in a relationship would promote casual sexual relationships. And I can't have that perversion here. This is a decent apartment complex".

Marinette was tempted to just walk away; she didn't want to rent an apartment from this nutcase. But she was desperate.

She looked at Nathaniel trying to meet his eyes, to somehow make him understand what she was about to do. But she couldn't find his eyes, he was looking at his shoes with his face as red as his hair.

"I completely understand that, but you do not need to worry. Nathaniel and I are a couple" She said as convincible as possible. She sneaked a quick glance at Nathaniel and she could see he was looking at her now as if she had grown a second head.

"You just told me you weren't," Madame Bernard replied sweetly. "Please do not lie to me."

"I'm not lying." She was, and she hated it. But desperate times, desperate measures... "We were lying before when we said we were not a couple."

Madame Bernard was smiling again.

"Is that true Nathaniel?" There was something about the way Madame Bernard asked that question, that reminded Marinette of an elementary school teacher. Gosh, she hated this excuse for a woman.

Marinette prayed mentally that he'd go along with it. To her relief, he did.

"Yes. It's true. I apologize for lying to you before. But Marinette and I are a couple. We didn't want to admit it before because we were embarrassed about moving in together before marriage".

"I understand. But you don't have to lie to me, I'm a very open-minded woman…" Marinette scoffed at that "I understand that a young couple would like to have their own place."

Marinette couldn't believe it worked, but it did. Less than an hour later Nathaniel and her were at a nearby Coffee Shop celebrating they finally got a place.

"I don't want casual sexual relationships in my decent apartment complex" Marinette was saying in a passable imitation of Madame Bernard voice. "but I also can rent to an unmarried couple because I'm open-minded"

"Also, what's the deal with 'two people from opposite genders'?" Said Nathaniel sipping his cappuccino "So only people of opposite genders can have sex now?"

"Apparently!" Exclaimed Marinette "It is unbelievable that we have to pretend to be a couple just to rent a place…. When they find out we are fake-dating…"

"You mean; 'If they find out'. I don't know about you, but in my opinion, this will go a whole lot smoother if this is just a show for Madame Bernard and we don't tell anyone else."

Sounded about right.

"I like how you think. Let's toast" She lifted her Iced Coffee cup and said "To our secret relationship"

"Cheers!"

* * *

Marinette had broken Adrien's heart once again, what else was new? He should be already used to it by now, she had rejected him multiple times since age fourteen. Ever since she told him she was in love with someone else, things have been awkward between them. Nevertheless, she was still his best friend, so the day she moved into her new apartment he was there to help her. Marinette's parents, Nathaniel's dad and Marc were also there helping carrying stuff.

Adrien was helping Marinette carry her desk computer back into the truck. There was not enough space in her bedroom to keep both the computer and her bed.

As they were carrying the computer back into the truck, they ran into the woman Marinette had to introduced to him earlier as the landlady.

Marinette had mentioned to Adrien that she didn't like the landlady very much, but she hadn't elaborated.

"Everything alright, dear?" the landlady asked sweetly.

"Yes, thank you, Madame Bernard." Replied Marinette. Even Adrien could hear the impatience in her voice.

"That's good to hear. And tell me, why are you carrying that computer outside the apartment?"

Maybe Marinette didn't like the landlady because she was such a gossip.

"Oh, it's just that I don't have enough space in my bedroom to keep it, and I have a laptop anyway."

"Oh, and why don't you just put it in the spare bedroom?"

Spare bedroom? Adrien had no idea what the landlady was talking about. The apartment only had two bedrooms, one for Marinette and one for Nathaniel.

"The apartment doesn't have a spare bedroom…" replied a confused Marinette.

"Well, you and Nathaniel are sharing a bedroom, no? So you have one spare bedroom." Explained the landlady as if there was any logical reason why Marinette should share a bedroom with Nathaniel.

"Why would they share a bedroom?" Adrien asked confused.

"Well, couples moving together usually shares a bed, dear" Explained the landlady as if Adrien was a little slow. Then she moved her attention to Marinette. "Aren't you and Nathaniel sharing a bed? I saw two beds being carried upstairs."

This woman was under the impression that Marinette and Nathaniel were a couple. Adrien wanted to tell her that was not the case. He wanted to put his arm around Marinette and tell the landlady HE was Marinette's boyfriend. But he couldn't. Marinette and he were not dating. She had rejected him again recently. She had told him she loved someone else. He just waited for Marinette to tell the landlady Nathaniel and she were just friends.

She didn't.

"Oh, yes. We are not sharing a bedroom because we saving ourselves until we are married."

What?

"Very admirable dear. But if that's the case, moving with your boyfriend is not the best way to avoid temptation."

"Well, we are moving together right now because we are going to the same university. But we'll sleep in separate rooms."

What.

"You're dating Nathaniel?" Adrien blurted before he could stop himself. He wanted to be sure he was not misunderstanding this situation.

Marinette looked at him and then at the landlady. She took a deep breath and said: "Yes, I am".

This was a game changer.

He thought he was helping her moving with her ex-classmate and friend and that their reason to move together was because it was convenient. He didn't know he was helping her move with her boyfriend. Suddenly he felt dizzy and he desperately wanted to throw up.

Nathaniel had to be Marinette's "Mystery Man". Marinette said her Mystery Man was a friend she rejected when they were younger. Nathaniel definitely used to have a crush on Marinette back in college, and while Adrien didn't know if Marinette had ever rejected Nathaniel, based on her lack of interest back then, it was possible.

"I didn't know. You didn't mention anything." Adrien said with more bitterness than he intended.

"It's fairly new…" Marinette replied looking uncomfortable.

Adrien nodded, not sure what else to say. What do you say when the love of your life tells you she has a boyfriend after you helped her move with him? He just wanted to be alone. Not for the first time he wished he still had his miraculous. He could really use some 'running on rooftops time' right now.

"I just remembered I have a photo shoot this afternoon–" He made a show of checking his watch. "– and I'm incredibly late! See you later! Bye!" He practically dashed away.


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you so much Bluejay and Slkworm, you are angels.**

 **Chapter 2**

After hours of hard work, the apartment was finally ready. Marinette, Nathaniel, Marc, Marinette's parent's and Nathaniel's dad had pizza for dinner–all of them were too tired to cook. Tom and Sabine spent the whole dinner hugging Marinette with tears in their eyes as if she was moving to the other side of the world instead of the other side of Paris.

Marinette could hardly believe that she was going to be living without her parents for the first time in her life, it was equally exciting and terrifying.

After dinner, everybody left except for Marc who was planning a movie night with Nathaniel.

"Are you sure you don't want to join movie night?" Marc asked Marinette. "We have enough popcorn and skittles to feed a small army!"

"Thanks, Marc, but I'm tired enough to sleep for a week straight!" Marinette wanted popcorn and skittles, and she enjoyed the boy's company, but she thought they probably wanted to be alone. Those two would make the cutest couple. "I think I'm going to pass out as soon as my head hits the pillow."

But Marinette didn't fall asleep easily. She had a lot of thinking to do.

She had told Adrien she was dating Nathaniel.

The whole "Fake dating Nathaniel" thing was supposed to be a secret. A show only for Madame Bernard. Adrien was the last person she wanted to lie to. But she didn't have a choice, it wasn't like she could tell him the truth in front of Madame Bernard.

Marinette didn't have the opportunity to tell him the truth since Adrien had to leave after that because he had a photo shoot.

But did she really wanted to tell him the truth?

First of all, it was not only 'her' secret. It was hers and Nathaniel's. She should at least talk with Nathaniel before considering talking to Adrien.

Second of all, a little and petty part of Marinette didn't want Adrien to know the truth. She had opened her heart to Adrien and he had told her he had moved on. Maybe it would be a good idea to let him believe she had moved on too.

In the end, she decided to not to call Adrien. She wondered if it was the right decision.

Not for the first time since she gave her Miraculous back, Marinette wished she had Tikki with her. If Tikki were here, she would listen Marinette and provide advice and emotional support.

Marinette fall sleep missing her Kwami.

* * *

As soon as Adrien got home, he locked himself in his bedroom to dwell on his misery.

He couldn't stand the solitude of his room while Marinette and Nathaniel shared an apartment.

When Nathalie called him for dinner he didn't eat; he was in his table alone while Marinette and Nathaniel would be eating together.

After dinner, he tried to distract himself watching a movie, but he couldn't pay attention, Marinette and Nathaniel probably were cuddling in the couch watching a movie together.

When it was time to go to bed he couldn't sleep, thinking Marinette and Nathaniel would be…

He heard Marinette telling the landlady they were waiting until marriage, but Adrien was not naïve enough to believe a young couple living together were living in pure chastity.

Adrien wished he could stop loving Marinette but he knew he'd sooner see pigs fly. He wished he could hate Nathaniel, but Adrien was not good hating people (except for Hawkmoth). So he did neither.

It was all his fault for pining for so many years over the same girl when he knew damn well she'd never love him back.

He briefly wondered if his life would be easier if he distanced himself from Marinette. Maybe it would be easier to get over her.

He dismissed the thought as soon as it occurred to him. He treasured Marinette's friendship, it was the most precious relationship he had in his life. He could never stop being her friend even if he was doomed to a life of unrequited love.

Not for the first time since he gave his Miraculous back, Adrien wished he had Plagg with him. If Plagg were here, he would tell Adrien to put himself together, and then he'd claim cheese was better than girls anyway. Adrien missed his Kwami. It was nice to have a friend with him all the time, even if said friend sucked at giving advice or being sympathetic.

Adrien didn't sleep that night.

* * *

If someone had told Nathaniel at age fourteen he would someday share an apartment with Marinette, he would have passed out from shock. However, he was not fourteen anymore. He had gotten over Marinette a long time ago, and after a short-lived crush on Ladybug, he had met Marc, and he had fallen hard. He had no clue if his love was requited or not.

Alix had the weekly routine of telling Nathaniel that everyone (including Marc's mother) knew Marc loved him back, so he should stop being a masochistic idiot and just confess already. He wanted to believe her, he really did. But Marc was a really dear friend and Nathaniel didn't want to ruin their friendship by confessing his feelings, in case Marc didn't feel the same. So he just loved him in silence.

The first day after Nathaniel and Marinette moved together, they went on an adventure to see their new neighbourhood. With the help on a mobile app, they checked where the subway stations, bus stops, grocery stores and restaurants were. They went grocery shopping and went back to the apartment holding hands because Madame Bernard was lurking in the lobby.

His fourteen years old self would have given an arm for spending a day with Marinette that end up with them holding hands. His eighteen years old self had a fun day with a friend, but he was eager to go home because he was hungry and he had to work on a new project.

Nathaniel joined forces with Marinette to make a passable carbonara for dinner. A solid seven out of ten and Nathaniel was beyond proud. After dinner, he video-called Marc to work in their new comic.

In Marc's story, there was a new character that Nathaniel had just drawn for the first time. He wanted his drawing to be as close as possible as to how Marc had pictured the character in his head when he wrote the story. They wanted to finish the comic before classes started on Monday, but they had gotten sidetracked and they ended up talking until really late at night.

At least he was not keeping Marinette awake by video-chatting in the living room, since she was pretty much awake anyway, playing Mecha Strike V.

The girl seemed to notice when he disconnected the call because she paused the game and said.

"So, Marc…" Marinette said playfully. Nathaniel knew Marinette was really invested in his relationship with Marc for some reason. She was so eager for them to date, and while Nathaniel appreciated her enthusiasm, he didn't want Marinette to meddle in his relationship with Marc. When Marinette tried to play matchmaker it was the recipe for a disaster.

"So, Adrien…" Nathaniel replied to divert attention from his own love life. He expected Marinette to blush or something. He didn't expect her to look sad out of sudden.

"Adrien is just a friend," she said sadly.

That was something Nathaniel had troubles believing. Everybody in Paris knew Marinette had the biggest crush on Adrien, except for Adrien himself. For the longest time, it was a mystery whether Adrien loved her back or not since nobody knew anything about Adrien's love life except that he had a giant celebrity crush on Ladybug. However, in Lycée it became clear Adrien did have a crush on Marinette. It was a mystery why they weren't dating yet.

He didn't know why she looked so sad, but it seemed like a sensitive topic for Marinette and it made Nathaniel feel guilty for bringing up Adrien. He didn't know what to say, so he said nothing, and started talking about how Alix and Kim were organizing a hiking competition. Marinette seemed very glad for a change of topic.

* * *

For the first time in forever, Adrien had half a day off. The photographer had to leave for a personal emergency, so Adrien was free to do whatever he wanted. He texted Marinette and asked her if she wanted to go to the movies with him. He hadn't seen her since he found out she was dating Nathaniel. Asking her to hang out just the two of them was probably a recipe for heartache. But he longed to see her.

Besides, he wanted to remain friends with her, and friends hang out all the time. They used to hang out all the time. That shouldn't change now that she had a boyfriend and his heart was broken.

She replied she would love to go to the movies, and she agreed to meet him at the movie theatre.

When Adrien saw her, he felt as if his heart was going to explode in his chest. He loved her so much, and she didn't love him back. That had been true since they were fourteen, but it still hurt. He doubted it will stop hurting someday.

"Hey, Adrien!" She greeted him casually. Ever since their conversation when she told him she was in love with someone else, she had stopped calling him Kitty. He wondered if she stopped because she started dating Nathaniel.

"Hey Marinette" since she stopped with the 'Kitty' he had dropped the nicknames too. It was so awkward. "How is everything going in your new apartment?"

He asked because he figured out he should but he really didn't want to hear about how great living with Nathaniel was.

"Great, I'm not going to lie I miss my parents. There are so many things I took for granted. But sharing an apartment with Nathaniel is fun too."

Adrien knew he brought this to himself by asking about the apartment but it still hurt. He really didn't want to hear about how great or 'fun' Nathaniel was, so he changed the topic.

"So did you hear Alix and Kim are planning a hiking competition next Saturday?"

"Yeah, Nathaniel told me." Of course, Nathaniel told her. Was there a topic Adrien could talk to Marinette about that didn't involve Nathaniel? She kept talking, completely oblivious to Adrien's pain. "I don't know if you heard, but they want to organize a camping trip with the friends that are still in Paris."

"Rose mentioned that. Are you going?"

"It sounds fun. I just hope I don't have a lot of homework–it'll be our first Saturday after classes start." She said enthusiastically. "What about you?"

Adrien wasn't sure if he wanted to go. Nathaniel would probably go to, and he would probably share a tent with Marinette. Adrien didn't think he could take sleeping in close proximity of that.

"I don't know if I'll be free that day" That was not a lie, his schedule was a nightmare anyway.

They saw the full movie, which is something they rarely got to do back when Hawkmoth was still running around. Adrien felt like he was going to die sitting so close to her, all the while knowing he shouldn't put his arm around her shoulder.

After the movie, Adrien insisted on walking Marinette to her apartment because it wasn't far. It was raining lightly so they had to share Marinette's umbrella.

"There is something familiar about this umbrella, but I can't put my finger on what it is," said Adrien.

"It's yours," explained Marinette. "You gave it to me when you apologized for the bubblegum incident, remember?"

He did remember apologizing, but the details were kind of blurry.

"And you kept the umbrella for five years?"

"Yes," she blushed. "Oh dear, please tell me you weren't expecting her the umbrella back. This is kind of embarrassing"

"That's not what I meant!" Adrien rushed to clarify her. "I think is really sweet you kept the umbrella."

She blushed again. He wondered if she had a fever or something.

"Well, it was the reminder of the day we became friends."

Friends. That's all they were.

For a second it was so easy for Adrien to pretend otherwise.

They went to the movies together. They walked in the rain sharing an umbrella. He could almost pretend that it was a date.

He could almost pretend she loved him back.

Then they reached her apartment. The one she shared with Nathaniel, the man lucky enough to call himself Marinette's boyfriend and the spell was broken.

Adrien got back to his place feeling worse than the day he found out Marinette was dating Nathaniel.


	3. Chapter 3

**I want to thank Bluejay for being my beta, she is an angel.**

 **Chapter 3**

After a week of overthinking, Adrien decided to go on the camping trip. He didn't fancy sleeping close to Marinette and Nathaniel's tent. But Marinette and Nathaniel were sharing an apartment every day anyway, camping trip or not, and Adrien really wanted to go hiking with the rest of the group. He had never gone camping before, so it was natural for him to want to go, right? Ugh! He needed to stop overthinking his own damn thoughts!

They had agreed to meet at the park in the morning. When Adrien arrived at the park only half the group was there. Juleka was sipping coffee under a tree and Rose was resting her head in her girlfriend's lap. Kim was there but Alix was yet to show up.

Marc (who looked like the farthest thing from ready for a camping trip) was alone seated under a tree writing something in his notebook.

"Hey Marc," said Adrien.

"Hey Adrien," he replied shyly before going back to his notebook.

Adrien sat under the same tree Marc was but on the opposite side of the trunk. He texted Nino while they waited for the rest of the group. It was a pity his best bro couldn't join their camping trip. But alas, he had decided to move to England. Adrien really missed him, but at least he was not on the other side of the world or something. Just a train ride away.

Somehow he ended up in a heated debate with Nino about who would win in a fight, the Yeti or Nessie. It was pretty obvious to Adrien that Nessie would be the winner but Nino refused to be reasonable. Adrien was in the middle of explaining Nino that aquatic dinosaurs triumph over snow hominids any day when he saw Marinette coming. Adrien looked around her but she seemed Nathaniel-less. The knot in his chest felt a little less tight.

"Marinette" he waved.

"Good Morning Adrien!" She smiled at him. That smile could make his knees weak. Luckily he was sitting.

"Where's your boyfriend? Is Nathaniel not joining us?" Adrien asked hopefully. A weekend with Marinette away from Nathaniel? Yes, please.

"He is on his way here, he just…"

Adrien never found out the rest of the sentence because Marinette was interrupted by Marc's quiet voice.

"Did he just called Nathaniel your boyfriend?"

Marinette looked at Marc as if only then she was noticing he was there. She looked completely horrified for some reason.

"Are you two dating?" Pressed Marc.

"No!" Marinette replied immediately.

"No?" asked Adrien confused (and with too much hope in his voice). Had they broke up?

"I mean yes…" Said Marinette. She was getting more and more uncomfortable each second.

"Yes?" Asked Marc, he sounded heartbroken.

Adrien felt the same.

Marinette nodded.

Adrien had always thought Marc and Nathaniel had a thing for each other. He had been wrong about Nathaniel apparently because he seemed very happy living with his girlfriend (who just happen to be the girl Adrien loved more than anything in the world, but life sucked like that). Apparently, Adrien had not been wrong about Marc, he did had a crush on Nathaniel.

Adrien knew exactly what Marc was feeling. He wanted to comfort Marc but he didn't know how, since they weren't that close or anything. Before Adrien could react, Marc took his stuff and left the bench. Marinette looked like she was about to cry.

Maybe the reason she had denied his relationship with Nathaniel at first was that she wanted to spare Marc the pain.

Marinette followed Marc, leaving Adrien alone.

To distract himself he went back to texting Nino. He may not have an idea what was going on in his romantic life, but at least he was completely sure that Nessie would beat the Yeti in a fair fight.

* * *

Marinette followed Marc to the other side of the park. She kept calling him, but he kept ignoring her. When she finally reached him, she took him by the arm to prevent him from running away again and blurted:

"I'm not dating Nathaniel!"

Everything else be dammed, but Marinette couldn't let her ship sink over a stupid lie.

Marc seemed to consider her words. He stopped trying to run away, his arm was still caught in Marinette's surprisingly iron grip. He still didn't look at Marinette.

"Adrien just said Nathaniel is your boyfriend, and you just confirmed it." He said avoiding Marinette's gaze.

Marc's voice sounded so small; Marinette wanted nothing more than hug him and drill into his head that she was not dating Nathaniel.

"It's all a lie." She explained, desperate to make him understand.

"Why are you lying about dating Nathaniel?" He asked baffled.

What a valid question. Why? Well, she didn't originally mean to lie to Adrien, it just sort of happened. But she didn't tell Adrien the true because it was irrelevant. Adrien didn't love her, and it was better to let him believe she had moved on too.

Nathaniel and Marc were a completely different story. Their love was mutual.

"It's a long story" It was actually not that long, but she had a more pressing manner to discuss. "But the point is that there is nothing going on between Nathaniel and me, we are just friends and apartment-mates."

Marc finally looked at her.

"Really?"

"Really. Besides, Nathaniel is in love with someone else" Marinette said in a sing-song voice. Marc's face fell and Marinette rushed to avoid another misunderstanding. "That's you, by the way."

Marinette wondered if she was doing the right thing by telling Marc the truth. God's knows she would die if someone else had told Adrien about her crush. But obviously, Marc and Nathaniel needed a push in the right direction.

Marc looked too stunned to replied, so Marinette used that as an opportunity to keep talking.

"You love him and he loves you. Do you know how rare that is?" There was a hint of jealousy on her voice. Not because she liked either of them, but because she wished Adrien and her had something similar.

Marc just blinked and didn't react. Marinette feared she had broken him. She decided to press further "If you two love each other, what's stopping you from being together. Go, get the man of your dreams!"

Maybe she was overdoing this, but she couldn't help herself, she was a hopeless romantic.

"As a matter of fact, I'll help you!"

"You would?" It was the first thing Marc said since Marinette told him Nathaniel loved him. His voice sounded unsure.

"Of course. I'm a professional in the making of convoluted yet effective plans to get people together"

She had gotten all her ships together: Ivan and Mylène, Alya and Nino, Rose and Juleka and so on.

She had a one hundred per cent success rate if you ignore her plans had never worked with Adrien and her, but that totally didn't count because she couldn't think with a straight head when her own heart was involved.

"Trust me," She said putting her arms around Marc's shoulder "I have seen more than ninety rom-coms. If you follow my lead by the end of this camping trip, you and Nathaniel will be dating".

Marc didn't seem convinced, but as long as he followed Marinette's instructions she could make this work.

* * *

Adrien didn't know what Marinette had told Marc, but when they came back and joined the rest of the group they seemed to be in good terms. Marc seemed happy if a little nervous.

Marinette was truly miraculous (pun completely intended) if she could make Marc feel better after he found out she was dating his crush. If Nathaniel had tried to comfort Adrien the day he found out that he was Marinette's boyfriend, Adrien would have punched him in the face.

He still low-key wanted to punch Nathaniel in the face, to be honest.

When Nathaniel arrived at their meeting point, Adrien was bracing himself to see him and Marinette together for the first time since he found out about their relationship.

Marinette beamed when she saw Nathaniel. Adrien's heartache felt like a physical ailment. She shared an apartment with him and she still looked giddy when she saw him? She must be hopelessly in love.

To Adrien's surprise, Marinette didn't run to meet Nathaniel, instead, she ran towards Marc and whispered something in his ear.

Adrien didn't have time to analyze Marinette's strange behavior because right after Nathaniel came Ivan and Mylène. The group was officially complete since Alya, Nino and Max lived abroad, Chloé and Sabrina hadn't shown any interest in the camping trip. Figures.

The race was about to start.

* * *

A few hours later the rest of the group had given up trying to keep up with Kim and Alix. They were just walking in the general direction of the finish line while Kim and Alix were far ahead of everyone else.

If Adrien had wanted to he could have to keep up with them, but he was having a great time just walking alongside Marinette. They were talking and laughing together, that Adrien could almost forget she was dating Nathaniel.

Except he really couldn't, because Nathaniel was there.

Nathaniel was talking animatedly with Marc a few steps behind them and Marinette kept sneaking glances at him. Adrien wondered why she was walking with him if her mind kept wandering to Nathaniel. Adrien tried to ignore the pain in his chest.

He noticed Marinette and Nathaniel didn't seem to be acting very "couple-like". He wondered what that was about. They should be in the honeymoon phase right now. It's not that he wanted to see them going all kissy-kissy with each other–but it was just weird.

He wondered if they were trying to hide their relationship from the rest of their classmates.

When they were halfway there, Mylène looked like she was about to pass out from exhaustion and Ivan offered to carry her the rest of the way.

Marinette looked giddy at the sight of Ivan carrying Mylène. She had a gigantic smile in her face and spark in her eyes.

"Isn't it romantic?" She asked Adrien.

Adrien pictured for a second him carrying Marinette the same way Ivan was carrying Mylène. He very much liked that idea.

"Yes, it is" He agreed.

He wanted to carry Marinette the rest of the way, but she probably was not on the same page. He could bet she was thinking about Nathaniel carrying her.

Half an hour later Marinette suddenly claimed:

"Marc, you look exhausted"

Adrien glanced at Marc, he looked somewhat tired, but "exhausted" was a bit of an exaggeration.

"Don't you agree Nathaniel?" Asked Marinette. She didn't ask Adrien if he thought Marc looked exhausted. That bothered him for some reason. Maybe because in even such trivial matter she valued Nathaniel's opinion over Adrien's.

"Uh… yes?" Nathaniel sounded unsure and he looked confused.

Marc was trying to make eye contact with Marinette for some reason.

"Why don't you carry him the rest of the way?" Suggested Marinette. Adrien didn't know why Marinette was trying to get Nathaniel to carry Marc. Was she trying to compensate Marc because she was dating Nathaniel? It sounded completely insane yet it was something she would do.

"It's ok, I can walk" mumbled Marc.

"If you are really tired I can carry you" Offered Nathaniel.

Adrien thought the whole situation was absurd, Marc didn't look that tired and Nathaniel was not athletic enough to carry Marc the rest of the way.

Marinette jumped in before Marc could refuse again.

"It's all said. Nathaniel agrees that you look exhausted and he offered to carry you, so Marc don't be rude and jump to Nathaniel's back."

The way she said it sounded more like an order. Adrien loved that voice giving orders, but that was the least appropriate thing to think about at the moment.

"I'll walk" repeated Marc blushing so much his face matched Nathaniel's hair. Marinette face fell, and if Adrien was not mistaken he swore he saw Nathaniel looking disappointed too.

* * *

Kim won, which meant they were stuck with a gloating Kim and a cranky Alix for the rest of the trip.

After congratulating Kim, Marinette went to set up her tent while thinking about what she was going to do next about Marc and Nathaniel. Her first idea had failed because Marc refused to be carried by Nathaniel. She was frustrated with Marc, hadn't she told him to follow her lead? What use was being a romantic expert if Marc didn't do as she told him?

Looking for new ideas she mentally went over the most commonly used plot devices in rom-coms, especially in camping trips:

-Person A saves Person B from drowning and had to give them CPR; She discarded that one immediately for a number of reasons: It was dangerous, neither Marc nor Nathaniel knew how to swim, Kim was probably going to end up having to save either of them, and there was no body of water nearby.

-Cuddle in front of the campfire: They cuddle all the time anyway, it was extremely cute but it won't catalyze a change in their relationship.

-Playing true or dare: Risky. Most of her friend's group shipped her with Adrien. If they played truth or dare most of her friends would try to set her up with Adrien. Adrien telling her he had moved on was still an open wound, she didn't think she could take a game of truth or dare with Adrien.

-Sharing a tent: Now that was an idea.

She had seen it work in multiple rom-coms and shoujo animes. That night Nathaniel and Marc were sharing a tent, Marinette was going to make sure of that.

* * *

Nathaniel was not a big fan of camping trips, and he honestly couldn't care less if Kim or Alix were faster, but he loved spending time with his friends so here he was. The group was not complete, but it was nice to reunite with as many friends as they could.

At the end of the day, he was completely fatigued and he just wanted to lay in his tent (as uncomfortable as they may be) and sleep nine hours straight.

His friends had a different idea. Apparently, a good camping trip was not complete if they didn't join around the campfire to tell horror stories.

Marc and Rose were awesome at telling horror stories. Both Marinette and Adrien sucked at it, but Nathaniel didn't feel invited to say so because for some reason the Adrien had been glancing at Nathaniel all day as if he was plotting to murder him in his sleep. Mylène was scared of all the stories (even Adrien and Marinette's lame ones) and Ivan held her hand the whole night. Nathaniel wished he could do the same thing and take Marc's hand. Not because Marc was scared, he just wanted to hold his hand.

When it was finally time to go to bed, he was approached by Marinette. Apparently, she wanted to switch tents with him. Marinette was originally planning to share with Marc, and Nathaniel was planning to share with Alix. Apparently, she had to talk to Alix about something and she wanted to know if they could switch.

Nathaniel almost gave her an absolute "no". Sleeping in the same tent as Marc was a very bad idea. He didn't trust his body around Marc. His face was probably going to be red, his heart was probably going to beat too fast and loud, his… well, he was a healthy eighteen-year-old boy ok? Sharing a tent with the love of his life he was not in a relationship with was only going to lead to embarrassment.

Before Nathaniel was able to respond, Marinette had taken his silences as a yes and had started to move their stuff.

Too tired argue with Marinette over the switch, Nathaniel just went to Marinette and Marc's tent (well now it was his and Marc's tent) and snuggled in the sleeping bag. It was a cold night so he made sure to be covered head to toe in a blanket too.

A couple of minutes later he heard Marc entering the tent.

"Hey Marinette" Apparently Marinette didn't tell Marc about the switch. Nathaniel was about to tell Marc it was actually him, but Marc kept talking.

"I want to call off the plan. I really appreciate what you are trying to do, but I don't think it's going to work."

Nathaniel didn't know Marinette and Marc cahoots on something.

"I have thought about it, and I'm not ready to let Nathaniel know about my feelings."

What?

"I know you think he likes me, like romantically, but I'm pretty sure he only likes me as a friend and letting him know I love him romantically it's just going to make things awkward and ruin our friendship. So we should maybe just forgot all about our plan and…"

Nathaniel bolted out of the sleeping bag and the pile of blankets.

Marc's shriek was probably heard in the whole country

"What are you doing here?" Asked Marc, pale as a ghost.

Nathaniel very rarely acted without thinking, but this was one of those times.

"I love you and I'm happy to hear you love me back," Said Nathaniel and then he put his lips in Marc's.

Marc seemed shocked for the kiss and Nathaniel was already looking for words to apologize, but then Marc pulled him in for another kiss.

One kiss turned to two, and then three and then four.

If they had told him an hour ago he was going to end up making out with Marc that night, he would not have believed it. They had a lot of stuff to talk about, but right now he just wanted to keep kissing him.

* * *

Adrien was ready to go to sleep in the tent he shared with Kim when they heard a shriek coming from Marc and Marinette's tent. That set all the alarms in Adrien's head, while he imagined all the possible scenarios that caused the aforementioned shriek. From 'they found a spider in the tent' to 'they are being murdered by a serial killer'.

He rushed to the other tent with Kim right beside him, when they opened the tent they were greeted by the last thing they expected to see.

Marc and Nathaniel were making out in the tent. They were so focused on each other they didn't notice Adrien and Kim.

Adrien was trembling with rage. Marinette was so in love with Nathaniel and she seemed to be good friends with Marc. This was going to destroy her. If Adrien had been a little more selfish, he would have been happy that Nathaniel was cheating on Marinette and they would most definitely break up when she found out. But he could never be happy if Marinette was going to be hurt. Above everything else, he wanted her to be happy. She didn't deserve this.

"It was about fucking time!" Said Kim happily, completely oblivious to Adrien's rage. Nathaniel and Marc jumped at the sudden intrusion "Seeing you two pining for each other was getting boring!"

Without any previous warning, Adrien punched Nathaniel in the face.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Everything happened so fast Marc barely had a hard time keeping up with what was going on. First, he came to the tent, ready to tell Marinette he wanted to cancel their plan. Then it turned out it was Nathaniel he was sharing a tent with. Then he confessed (Marc haven't had time to freak out properly over it). Then suddenly he was making out with Nathaniel…

And then Adrien punched Nathaniel.

Marc was especially confused about that last part. Mainly because he didn't remember Adrien being there at all.

While Marc's brain was still restarting like Window Vista, Kim put himself between Adrien and Nathaniel.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Asked a bemused Kim.

"Do you have a problem with two guys kissing?" Asked Nathaniel. He sounded hurt, and Marc knew his pain was not only the physical one in his jaw.

"No" Adrien denied immediately, to Marc he sounded sincere "Don't make this about you being two guys, I don't have a problem with people of any gender kissing." Adrien sounded more pissed than he should have the right to, considering he was the one who just punched Nathaniel. "However, I DO have a problem with people who are dating Marinette kissing people that are not Marinette".

Oh.

Suddenly everything clicked in Marc's head, and he understood everything. Well, not everything, he was still confused about how he was so lucky that Nathaniel actually loved him back. But he understood why Adrien had punched Nathaniel.

Poor Adrien. He was so in love with Marinette he would actually punch her imaginary boyfriend for breaking her heart.

Marc would feel bad for Adrien if he wasn't pissed off at him for punching Nathaniel.

Kim looked even more confused than before. Nathaniel was just glaring at Adrien. Adrien still looked upset.

"Marinette and Nathaniel are not dating" Blurted Marc. "They were faking it".

He felt as if he was betraying Marinette's trust by saying this, but he was not going to let Nathaniel be punched again over some stupid lie.

"Hey losers, why are you making so much noise? It's way past midnight!" Alix sudden voice cut the tense air. It sounded like she was right outside their tent.

"Oh, there was a… spider" Replied Nathaniel. Marc may be a very bad liar but Nathaniel was even worse. But at least he sounded convincing enough that Alix replied:

"That much noise over a tiny spider? I can't believe I'm friend with cowards"

"I'm not a coward!" Replied Kim quickly.

"Kim? What are you doing in that tent?" Asked Alix confused.

"Adrien and Kim were helping us kill the spider" Replied Nathaniel. The lie was ok, the delivery could be improved.

"Did you killed it? Are you guys ok?"

"We didn't kill it, it ran away. About your second question, Adrien… accidentally hit me in the jaw with his elbow, so I'm not ok".

So Adrien punched him in the jaw and Nathaniel still lied to cover him. Marc didn't know if he was utterly exasperated with Nathaniel or more in love than before. Maybe both.

"You guys are a mess! Do you want me to take a look at that jaw? I took a First Aid course, remember?"

Nathaniel accepted Alix's offer and followed her outside of the tent.

"You know what, I give up trying to understand what's going on here. Good night!" Said Kim and left the tent. Leaving Marc alone with Adrien.

"What do you mean Marinette is not dating Nathaniel?"

"Exactly that. They are not dating. They were faking it the whole time." Explained Marc "I'm not sure if I should be telling you this, but I can't let you punch Nathaniel over some stupid made up relationship. Besides, I don't want people thinking I'm a home-wrecker or something".

Marc cringed when he used the word 'home-wrecker', but he couldn't come up with another word that fitted what he was trying to say.

Adrien looked at Marc with an odd expression on his face.

"Marc, I…" Adrien seemed at lost for a second "Look, I'm sure there must be a tactful way to say this. And a person with more tact than I will probably find it, but I think Nathaniel lied to you."

"Huh?" It was Marc's turn to be confused.

"He likes you, it's obvious. So he lied to you, and told you his relationship with Marinette was fake, so he could…"

"Nathaniel didn't tell me the relationship was fake" Replied Marc, he was usually a very patient man, but Adrien could test the patience of a saint. "Marinette did."

Now Adrien looked like his brain was restarting. Marc took that opportunity to keep talking.

"You know you are being an ass, right? First, you just punched Nathaniel over nothing, and now you are trying to convince me Nathaniel is some sort of two-timer. And Nathaniel still lied to Alix to not make you look bad"

At least, Adrien had the decency to look ashamed.

"I think I should apologize to Nathaniel" Adrien sounded sincere at least.

"I agree."

"I'll apologize tonight, but can we go back to the 'Marinette' topic for a second."

Sigh.

Adrien had tunnel vision when it came to Marinette. She was guilty of the same crime. Marc wondered how they were still not together.

"So, she told you her relationship with Nathaniel was fake?" Asked Adrien.

"She did, and she had no reason to lie. She actually was trying to get me together with Nathaniel. Girls don't usually try to get her boyfriend together with someone else".

Adrien considered his words for a second.

"Why did she lie to me then?" His voice sounded so small that suddenly Marc felt terrible for Adrien.

"I don't actually know" Replied Marc honestly "She never told me".

Adrien didn't seem to know what to say, so instead, he replied "Thanks for telling me" in the saddest voice Marc had ever heard from him.

Marc didn't know what to say. 'You are welcome' sounded didn't seem appropriate in the context. So he said nothing.

They heard Nathaniel coming back from Alix's tents.

Marc hoped Adrien hurried up with his apology and returned to his tent soon, so Nathaniel and he could go back at what they were doing before they were rudely interrupted.

* * *

Adrien didn't sleep at all that night. Partly because he still felt guilty about punching Nathaniel, even after he apologized. Nathaniel had told Adrien he forgave him, but there was still a question that plagued his mind. 'Why had Marinette lied to him?'

Why did she tell him she was in a relationship with Nathaniel?

She had never lied to him. Well, she had lied to him plenty of times back when they were still Ladybug and Chat Noir. But that was just to protect her identity. There was no reason why she needed to make up a relationship with Nathaniel.

Adrien knew he should feel relieved to know Marinette and Nathaniel were not actually dating. The love of his life was not dating the guy she was sharing an apartment with, Adrien should be jumping in glee. And he probably would later. But right now he didn't feel like jumping.

Actually, he felt like an idiot.

He felt betrayed by her. Why had she lied to him? Was he the butt of a joke? Marinette was not a cruel person, she was the kindest person he knew, so she would not do something to hurt him on purpose. But then, why had she lied?

The next morning Adrien felt like dying. He had not slept at all the night before, and he was not having a very good morning.

Nathaniel jaw looked swollen and that was making Adrien's guilt return tenfold. To make things worse, since the official story was that Adrien accidentally hit Nathaniel with his elbow, his friends were making jokes about him hitting Nathaniel, without knowing he actually punched Nathaniel, intentionally.

Adrien felt so many things at once when he saw Marinette, he had a hard time keeping track of all his emotions:

Relieve of knowing she was not dating Nathaniel.

Anger because she had taken him for a fool.

Embarrassment because he had fallen for it.

Shame because he had punched Nathaniel over it (even if Marinette didn't know that).

Butterflies in his stomach, because above everything else he loved her.

Adrien was usually drawn to her, but that morning he didn't feel like spending time with her. (Even if she looked like a goddess in her pyjamas). He needed time to sort his thoughts before approaching her at all.

When a half-asleep Marc gave Nathaniel a peck during breakfast, Marinette's squeal was heard above the noise everybody was making. Everybody started interrogating them, while Marc and Nathaniel looked like they were about to combust from embarrassment.

Apparently, their whole friends group was waiting for the day those two got together.

Seeing Marinette reaction to the news of Marc and Nathaniel getting together, Adrien wondered how he actually convinced himself Marinette was dating Nathaniel. It was so obvious how much she wanted Marc and Nathaniel together.

Suddenly he remembered that Marinette had told him she was still in love with a guy that used to be in love with her back when they were fourteen.

If he wasn't Nathaniel, who was he? Or was that a lie too?

He didn't want to start doubting everything Marinette had ever told him, but he didn't want to believe Marinette was in love with another guy. He had to pick one, he couldn't have both.

"This is so awesome!" Said Rose while she jumped holding hands with Mylène and Marinette. "Now almost all my ships are real, except for one," She said the last part giving Marinette a meaningful look.

"Oh, quit it. I told you I don't have a chance" Replied Marinette, looking sad.

"You are wrong, and sooner or later you'll see it" replied Rose, while the rest of the girls agreed with her words.

That answered Adrien question then, there was someone else. Someone that was clearly not Nathaniel, but that the girls shipped Marinette with.

He wondered who he was.

That lucky bastard.

He also kept wondering why Marinette had lied to him.

He avoided Marinette the rest of the day.

* * *

Marinette didn't know what had happened the night of the camping trip, but the next day everything was different.

Marc and Nathaniel sharing a peck during breakfast was the highlight of her year. She knew sharing a tent never failed, she was the expert in rom-coms and shoujo manga.

So far, she had been unsuccessful in her attempts to extract the full story from Marc or Nathaniel, but she was so happy they were finally together, she could forgive them for the secrecy.

On the flip side, Adrien had been acting weird since the camping trip. He was kind of distant. She felt like if he was avoiding her. It was not like he was ignoring her if she texted him, he replied. But he never texted her first, and he wasn't making any effort in hanging out with her and gave her excuses every time she tried to hang out.

To say she was worried was an understatement.

If Alya or Tikki had been there, they would have told her to not jump to conclusions; that maybe he was just busy.

But Marinette was an Olympic Gold Medalist in 'Jumping to conclusions?

She didn't deny it was possible he was just busy; she had to consider all the other possible explanations for Adrien's recent behaviour. From 'he had been kidnapped by aliens and replaced by a clone' to 'He hates me for some reason'.

None of those seemed any comforting.

She briefly wondered if Adrien's odd behaviour after the camping trip was related to Nathaniel's swollen jaw, but she quickly discarded it. They were just trying to kill a spider and Adrien accidentally hit Nathaniel. That had nothing to do with her.

Well, if Adrien was not going to make an effort to see her, she was not going to make an effort to see him.

But she'd be lying to herself if she claimed she didn't miss her kitty.

* * *

After their graduation, Chloé had gone to spend some time in New York with her mom. When she came back to Paris, a week after the camping trip, she invited Adrien to a Tea Party in her hotel. Just the two of them.

Adrien had never been a fan of Chloé's Tea Parties. When they were little he disliked the idea of staying in one place drinking tea when they could be playing. When they teens he disliked Chloé's behaviour, how she was mean to everybody and how she was all over him all the time.

Chloé had changed so much since then. She had grown up a lot as a person. She no longer bullied people (well mostly) and ever since she came out as a lesbian she had stopped throwing herself at Adrien.

After not seeing her for a couple of months, Adrien had to admit he kind of missed her. So for the first time in his life, when he received the invitation to Chloé's Tea Party, he was actually excited with the idea.

The thing about Chloé was that years had made her a lot less mean, but not any less shallow. Fifteen minutes into the Tea Party and Adrien was already tuning out Chloé's babbling about all the things she had bought in New York.

His mind wandered back to Marinette.

Since the camping trip, he had been wondering why she had lied to him, and he always hit a brick wall. He wanted to talk to somebody but he didn't know who.

It was not like he had many friends he could talk about it. With Plagg gone and Marinette being the source of his confusion he was kind of running out of friends to ask for their input on Marinette's reason to lie.

Technically he could call Nino or Alya anytime he wanted, but he didn't want to call them over something like this when they were probably busy with school. Besides he was pretty sure Marinette and Alya told each other everything, so maybe talking to Alya was not a great idea.

Chloé was in the middle of telling him about her new nail polish when a realization hit Adrien.

Chloé was here.

Chloé was his friend.

Chloé didn't tell Marinette everything like Alya did.

He'll be the first to admit that Chloé was pretty shallow, so maybe he should take her advice with a grain of salt, but at least he knew she'll listen to him.

"Hey Chloé, can I ask you a hypothetical question?

"Sure" She looked a little confused with the change of topics.

"Why would a girl lie about having a boyfriend?"

"Dupain-Cheng lied to you about having a boyfriend?"

"This is not about Marinette" He sounded more defensive than he intended to "It's a hypothetical question!"

Chloé didn't seem to believe him but answered anyway.

"She has an embarrassing crush on you"

"What?" That was not what Adrien was expecting.

"Hypothetically the girl that lied to you had had a crush on you since we were fourteen, but she kept stuttering around you and she never told you how she feels. Maybe recently she (with the graduation and everything) convinced herself she lost her chance with you, so she made up a boyfriend to either make you jealous or to not look so pathetic or both."

Adrien was surprised by how specific Chloé's answer was.

He wanted to believe her. He really did. But he knew for a fact Chloé was wrong.

"You got it all wrong. It's the boy that has a crush on the girl. And she had already rejected him. Why would she lie to him about having a boyfriend then? Hypothetically speaking"

Chloé seemed confused with this information. She looked at him as if he had grown a second head, before replying:

"If that's the case, then she is just trying to get rid of a jerk that doesn't take a no for an answer." Said Chloé "We girls do this all the time, there is always an idiot that doesn't get the hint that we are not interested in them, so it's easier to just make up a boyfriend or girlfriend".

Chloé was not known for her tact, but damn! Her words cut deep.

That was it then, it was that simple.

Marinette was uncomfortable with his flirting and since he didn't take the hint she told him she was dating someone else.

He had flirted with her non-stop since they were fourteen, no wonder Marinette was so sick of his attention she made up a relationship with Nathaniel. Adrien cringed remembering the past four years of his life.

He felt like throwing up.

He wanted nothing more than lock himself in his bedroom and never see anyone ever again. Until he got over his embarrassment and pain.

His train of thoughts was interrupted by Chloé.

"Of course that would be the most logical conclusion if this is truly a hypothetical case." She said, "But there is nothing hypothetical about Dupain-Cheng and her made up boyfriend, so I'll stick to my original answer, she has a crush on you and she doesn't know how to deal with it."

Talking to Chloé was leading nowhere, she was clearly even more loss than he was.

"This is not about Marinette" He replied flustered "It's just a random hypothetical question."

"Of course"

"Besides let's pretend it's about Marinette, and it's not, you are still wrong." He said, lowering his gaze "She doesn't love me"

"Says who?"

"Says Marinette, she told me she was in love with someone else"

"Didn't we just established her boyfriend is her imaginary friend?"

"Ok, first of all, she didn't make up a boyfriend, she lied about dating somebody she was not dating" He clarified before he realized his mistake.

"So, this is about Dupain-Cheng. I'm shell-shocked" She deadpanned.

Adrien knew he had put his foot in his mouth, so he didn't insist on denying it and just continued talking:

"Second of all, she told me she had a crush on somebody else before she started fake-dating this guy".

Chloé was looking at him as if he was an absolute idiot.

"You are hopeless, if you want answers, go talk to Dupain-Cheng in person. Preferably with small words to avoid misunderstandings."

Apparently, that was her final word on the subject because she then started talking about all the fancy places she had visited.

Adrien knew Chloé that if Chloé was right in one thing it was that if he wanted answers he needed to talk to Marinette.

It was not a conversation he was looking forward to. He knew his heart would not be able to take it if Marinette told him she had lied about dating Nathaniel because she was uncomfortable with Adrien's attention.

But he also knew that if he didn't ask her, he was going to live his whole life wondering if he was bothering her.

He resolved to talk to her that very same night, otherwise, he'd lose his courage.

* * *

Marinette loved designing clothes, she really did. And she couldn't imagine herself studying anything else. That being said, sometimes her classes could be a pain in the butt. She had just started school and she was already drowning in homework.

She was in the middle of having a meltdown when she heard the knock at her door. She almost didn't open thinking it probably was Madame Bernard. Nathaniel had a key, Marc was with Nathaniel, her parents were busy with a huge order that weekend and Adrien was avoiding her. Ergo, the only person that could be at her door was Madame Bernard, and Marinette didn't want to talk to her if it was not absolutely necessary.

The person knocked again, so Marinette gave up and opened the door. To her relief it was not Madame Bernard, it was Adrien.

"Hey, Marinette." He said "Madame Bernard almost didn't let me in the building. Apparently, she saw Nathaniel went out with Marc and she didn't think it was appropriate that you let a man visit you when your boyfriend was not home."

First of all, Madame Bernard was out of her mind.

Second of all, Adrien avoided her for a week and now he just showed up at her door acting as if nothing had happened? She wanted to be furious with him, but worry over-rode her anger when she took a good look at him. He had bags under his eyes and a look in his eyes like he was about to break down any minute.

"Are you ok?" She asked him as they sat on the couch.

"Yes, of course". He could have fooled anyone else with his model smile, but Marinette could tell when the smile didn't reach his eyes.

He actually looked really uncomfortable sitting next to her. With a pang of sadness, Marinette remembered how they used to cuddle in her parents' couch to watch movies. Not for the first time, Marinette wondered what she had done wrong that he didn't want to be around her anymore.

"There was something I wanted to ask you." He said, looking her in the eyes. It wasn't fair, how was she supposed to have a coherent conversation while looking at those green eyes? "And I need you to tell me the truth."

That sounded serious. She wanted to reply 'have I ever lied to you?' but she knew that probably wasn't the right way to go, so she didn't.

"Go for it"

"This is really awkward and I don't know the best way to ask, but do I make you uncomfortable?"

Marinette wasn't sure what she was expecting him to ask, but that wasn't it.

Since she didn't reply he kept talking.

"Don't try to spare my feelings, just tell me the truth" he insisted "because if I do, I want to offer you my deepest apology"

What?

"I never meant to make you feel uncomfortable. If you tell me you are not comfortable with me flirting with you, I'll stop. No more nicknames, I won't invade your personal space anymore, I'll stop the flirty comments. Everything".

That sounded horrible.

Marinette was confused about what was going on, but she couldn't allow it to continue.

"You don't make me feel uncomfortable," Marinette said, bewildered by the topic.

Those words made wonders in Adrien. His shoulders relaxed and even the bags under his eyes seemed a little smaller.

"I don't?"

"No, you don't. You silly kitty. Where on Earth did you get that idea?"

"I was talking to Chloé, and she said the reason why you lied to me about dating Nathaniel was that you wanted to get rid of unwanted attention"

Adrien knew. Somehow he knew she had lied about Nathaniel.

She didn't know how he found out it was a lie but she wanted the earth to open and swallow her whole, this was so humiliating. She was also kind of moved that before confronting her about the lie, Adrien's first worry was the possibility that he was making her uncomfortable.

As if that could ever happen.

"She actually said that?"

"Well not exactly, that was her second option. Her first was that you lie because… look it was something stupid, forget about it"

Not wanting any more misunderstandings between them Marinette replied:

"I lied because I needed to rent this apartment."

* * *

After the tea party, Adrien had rushed to Marinette's place summoning all his courage.

He was usually a very brave young man, to the point his bravery sometimes crossed the line to stupidity. But the possibility to confirm he made Marinette so uncomfortable she had to make up a boyfriend in order to get rid of him was beyond scary.

When he finally asked the question that was eating him alive, he braced himself for the answer. He didn't expect the answer to be that she wanted to rent the apartment.

"You needed to rent the apartment?" Repeated Adrien.

"Yes. Because apparently a man and woman shouldn't share an apartment if they are not a couple because it might promote casual sex" Replied Marinette, her wording made Adrien think she was quoting somebody, he was pretty confident he could guess who it was.

"Madame Bernard is an interesting woman" commented Adrien

"Interesting is not the word I'll use to describe her," said Marinette.

"So if I'm understanding this correctly you had to tell her you and Nathaniel were a couple or else she wouldn't rent the apartment"

"Pretty much yes, that's the summary."

Adrien felt like an idiot.

A self-centred idiot.

He found out Marinette was fake dating somebody and he immediately assumed she was doing it because of him. Marinette's world didn't revolve around him. Of course, she had a perfectly (not related to him) valid reason to fake-date Nathaniel.

He was embarrassed. Marinette must have thought he was an egocentric jerk.

Except that she had lied to him. She never lied to anyone else about dating Nathaniel, why had she lied to him? If Marc hadn't told him the true Adrien would still be convinced Marinette was with Nathaniel.

"So, I understand why you lied to Madame Bernard…" Adrien said slowly, "but why did you lie to me?"

"I didn't tell you I was dating Nathaniel, Madame Bernard did." Replied Marinette "I couldn't tell you the truth in front of Madame Bernard and you left right after that so…"

"Right, but it's been weeks ever since, why didn't you tell me the truth later?"

Suddenly Marinette was very interested in the carpet.

"I didn't think you cared either way, so I didn't see a reason to set the record straight," She said, but she was still not looking him in the eyes.

"How could I not care?" He asked baffled.

He had spent the last few weeks in her own personal version of hell and she didn't think he'd care?

"Why would it be important to you if I was or wasn't dating Nathaniel?" Marinette suddenly looked pissed and Adrien wondered what had he done wrong "You already rejected me excuse me if I assumed you wouldn't care if I was dating someone else?"

Adrien understood her words, but they didn't make any sense to him.

"When did I reject you?" He asked he was pretty sure he would never do that in his right mind.

"A few weeks ago, when we were in my couch looking for apartments for rent"

That was the day she told him she was in love with another guy. Adrien felt like they were having two different conversations.

"You and I remember that day very differently then. Because as I remember it YOU rejected me."

"How did I reject you?" Marinette looked positively exasperated at this point "I told you I was in love with you and you told me you have moved on and now you act as if I rejected you?"

And that's when the world stopped spinning.

Adrien was glad he was already sitting because he felt dizzy all of sudden.

He wanted to make sure he had understood her correctly.

"You were talking about me?" He asked, his voice sounded higher than usual for some reason.

Marinette didn't reply, she kept looking at the carpet.

"Please Bugginette, I'm not good with all of this, and I don't want another misunderstanding" Adrien plead, Marinette seemed to soften at the old nickname "Just tell me, the guy you were talking about the other day, was it me?"

She just nodded with a red face.

Adrien's brain stopped working. When that happened his mouth did twice the work to overcompensate.

"I love you too!" Replied Adrien without thinking "I love you, I have loved you since we were fourteen and I have never loved anyone else"

"Then why did you told me you have moved on?" She asked finally looking him in the eyes again.

"I didn't realize you were talking about me" He replied honestly. "I'm an idiot".

He expected her to disagree with his last statement, but instead, she said:

"Yes, but I love you anyway"

Suddenly her lips were on his. It was hard to tell who kissed who first, but it was irrelevant. They were kissing. It was not the first time they kissed, but it was the first time he was not going to have his memories erased afterwards. Or at least he hoped, but the chance of something erasing his memories was slim to none with Hawk Moth gone.

He was going to store in his memory every single little detail about this kiss, Marinette's soft hand on his, Marinette's soft lips, her taste, her smell.

He was not sure if it lasted a few days or a few seconds, but when they separated it felt like the world had changed.

"I have loved you since we were fourteen too" Said Marinette resting her hair in his shoulder "You are the only guy I have ever loved…"

"When we were younger you mentioned another guy. What about him?" Adrien didn't mean to throw that in her face. He was just confused. Maybe she did had a crush on another guy back then, but she never loved him. Those were two different concepts.

"I used to have a crush on him, then I fell for my partner," replied Marinette. "I was confused for a while."

Adrien appreciated her honesty. The thought of her having a crush on another guy was annoying, but that was ages ago and she had ultimately chosen him, so Adrien could live with that.

"Imagine my surprise when I found out they were the same person"

Adrien did a comical double take. Marinette gave him a smile and he smiled back.

"I can relate," he said "I fell in love with my partner since I met her, but then I developed feelings for one of my best friends, just to find out they were the same amazing girl all along"

Marinette face was red again. She looked adorable.

"So, we could have been together all this time," Said Marinette "We are a pair of idiots"

"We are" Agreed Adrien "But we can try to make up for the lost time"

They kissed again.

And again.

And again.

 **Fin**

 **Bonus:** Nathaniel and Marc found Marinette and Adrien kissing and Marc jokingly suggested Nathaniel to punch Adrien to ruin their moment as payback for when Adrien punched him. This is the first time Marinette heard about the punch and she is not amused.

 **Bonus 2:** A few weeks later Madame Bernard caught Marinette making out with Adrien in the corridor. She rushed to the apartment to tell Nathaniel only to catch him making out with Marc. She ended up convinced they were all part of a swinger club and evicted them. They now share an apartment (the four of them).

 **I want to thank Bluejay for being my beta.**

 **Love**

 **Tete**


End file.
